ABSTRACT
This chapter develops a conceptualization of depression and its treatment from the perspective of intersubjective Self Psychology. Based on Freud’s seminal work Mourning and Melancholia, the following conceptualization is proposed; mourning is the emotional reaction to the loss of the other as other. Melancholia is the emotional reaction to the loss of the other as selfobject. And since the loss of the selfobject results in the loss of the self, this chapter argues, mourning is the emotional reaction to the loss of the other; melancholia is the emotional reaction to the loss of the self. In treatment therefore the therapist has two fundamental roles: 1. To be the receiver for the despair associated with the loss of the self. This also means to understand and be open to what from the patient’s perspective is felt to be lost and recognize it as essential to the patient’s self-experience. This enables the mourning process. 2. To provide in the transference relationship the needed selfobject experience that permits the recovery and restoration of the self. Both steps are recognized as necessary in the recovery from depression.
